Ferrochrome (High-Carbon & Charge Chrome)

High-carbon ferrochrome and charge chrome by Cr, C, Si, P and S in jumbo bags or breakbulk

Ferrochrome is priced per pound or per kilogram of contained chromium, so the first line of the sheet is the Cr percentage and the second is what came with it. Charge chrome, made from South African 1.5:1 ore, runs 50–55% Cr with 6–8% C and 3–5% Si and is the workhorse of the stainless industry, where the carbon is burned out in the AOD converter anyway; high-carbon ferrochrome from higher-ratio Turkish, Kazakh and Indian ore runs 60–70% Cr with the same carbon band and is bought by mills that want more chromium per tonne of alloy in the charge and by special-steel makers with tighter residual limits. Silicon (≤ 3% for high-carbon, up to 5% charge chrome), phosphorus (≤ 0.03%) and sulphur (≤ 0.05%) are the penalty elements, because they transfer into the melt; titanium matters for some stainless grades; and size (10–50 or 10–100 mm lumps, with fines under 10 mm at a discount) decides how the alloy dissolves in the furnace. Low- and medium-carbon ferrochrome (≤ 0.1% and 1–4% C) are a separate, dearer product for grades that cannot afford the AOD decarburisation. On the trade, UN Comtrade 2025 export declarations under HS 7202 (all ferroalloys) show South Africa at 1.97 million MT at an average USD 1,038/MT, going to China (474,000 MT at USD 1,023), Mozambique (454,000 MT, much of it transiting to Maputo for onward shipment), the USA (247,000 MT at USD 1,130), Korea (162,000 MT), the Netherlands (162,000 MT at USD 1,199) and Japan (152,000 MT), with Italy, Belgium, Spain and Turkiye behind them — the map of the world's stainless melt shops outside China.

The buyer is a stainless steel mill or a special-steel or foundry melt shop, and it buys on cost per unit of chromium delivered into the furnace, which is why a 52% charge chrome at a lower per-tonne price and a 65% high-carbon alloy at a higher one can land at the same cost per Cr unit and be chosen on freight, residuals and sizing instead. Gulf and Turkish mills buy in container lots of jumbo bags; large Asian and European stainless works take breakbulk or bulk parcels. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers high-carbon ferrochrome and charge chrome from South African, Kazakh, Indian, Turkish and Zimbabwean smelter and trader allocations against SGS or Bureau Veritas certification of Cr, C, Si, P, S, Ti and size distribution, with the price expressed per Cr unit or per tonne at the buyer's choice. Supply is structured in 1 MT jumbo bags in 20-foot containers, in breakbulk lots and, for the largest buyers, in Handysize bulk parcels on FOB, CFR and CIF terms; because CBIL also runs a chartering desk (LaycanDesk), the freight leg on breakbulk and bulk lots is quoted alongside the alloy. Send your Cr floor, carbon and silicon ceilings, phosphorus limit and size band and we will work the smelter to it.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices bulk ore freight on LaycanDesk.